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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Pepper-spray-happy UC Davis cop John Pike may be a homophobe too; his involvment in discrimination suit that cost UC Davis $240,000

Via Igor Volsky of ThinkProgress comes a Daily Mail account of retired Marine Sergeant and current UC Davis policeman Lt. John Pike's involvment in a discrimination lawsuit against UC Davis:

As one of four lieutenants, the 39-year-old supervises more than one-third of the sworn officers, including the investigations unit...

But an alleged anti-gay slur by Pike also figured in a racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit a former police officer filed against the department, which ended in a $240,000 settlement in 2008.

Officer Calvin Chang's 2003 discrimination complaint against the university's police chief and the UC Board of Regents alleged he was systematically marginalized as the result of anti-gay and racist attitudes on the force, and he specifically claimed Pike described him using a profane anti-gay epithet...

Dieter Dammeier, an Upland lawyer for the Federated University Police Officers Association, the union that represents UC Davis officers, said the operations plan issued by the department includes the use of pepper spray.

Dammeier said he does not represent Pike because he is a manager.

Evidently, institutionalized Marine Corps homophobia can be rather costly when its practitioners take it with them when returning to civilian life.

Maynard (Bob "Gilligan's Island" Denver) slyly flashes a nipple to the CBS eye while trying to talk his best buddy Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hick­man) into taking off all his clothes. Whoever said 1950s television was a vast waste­land obviously didn't know where to look.